Naruto Drabbles
by Crisis
Summary: A collection of one-shots that torment me but that I can't dedicate myself to making a full story of. Each includes challenge rules if a writer wants to take it up themselves. Chapter 2 - Hyuga Hinata: How to Wash Your Brain.
1. Uzumaki Kushina: Godaime Hokage

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I own several volumes of the manga, but no rights to anything.

This is the first in what will likely become a long series of one-shot drabbles. These drabbles are things that I would dearly love to read, but am not able to give the time or creative energy I feel they deserve. So, each one-shot chapter comes with its own challenge! Challenge rules are listed at the bottom.

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><p><strong>Uzumaki Kushina: Godaime Hokage<strong>

Uzumaki Kushina was having trouble processing what was happening. It was supposed to be the happiest day of her life and it had turned into such a nightmare. She'd had the life of her newborn son threatened, had been abducted, had the most powerful demon in the world extracted and set upon her village, and now her husband, Namikaze Minato the Yondaime Hokage, was set to perform a suicide jutsu to make her baby boy into a jinchuuriki. She'd tried to argue, but Minato had just given her that _look_ of his. The one he got when he disagreed with her and was simply waiting for her to run out of steam before he calmly picked her argument to pieces. It was likely the last time she would ever get to chew him out for being an idiot, and he'd once again picked it apart in that calm infuriating manner of his that had pissed her off since their academy days. How he could be so infuriating and so sweet at the same time, she would never be able to understand. Normally, Kushina could win their arguments with sheer force of personality, but even she couldn't argue with the fact that, this time, Minato was right.

"Dying to make a better life for his son... That's the stuff you let the father handle."

Kushina wanted to protest more even though she knew it was too late. The bargain had been struck when he'd summoned the Shinigami, and all that was left was for Minato to direct its effects to what he wanted sealed.

The grisly arm of the shinigami stretched from her husband's stomach to grasp the Kyuubi. Minato spoke the single word "Seal!" as the Kyuubi roared in agony from where Kushina kept it bound in her special chakra chains with her waning strength.

"Now for the Eight Trigrams Seal!" Minato said as he called forth the ceremonial altar necessary for such a strong seal. "I'm going to seal the Kyuubi inside Naruto.

Kushina watched the Kyuubi's face register recognition of what was going to happen as Minato places Naruto on the altar. In another universe, Kushina's waning chakra caused her to falter, allowing just enough slack into her chakra chains for the Kyuubi to make an attempt on Naruto's life that she and her husband would block with their very bodies. In this one, she steeled her will and kept the giant demon fox immobile as her husband sealed it.

He first called forth Gamatora to have him take the seal's key to Jiraiya for safekeeping before turning to her. "It's time for me to go Kushina... If you have anything left to say... now's the time."

"Naruto..." she began, crawling over to her son, all the time believing that she had to cram everything she'd ever need to tell her son into these precious few moments, "don't be a fussy eater... Eat a lot and grow up to be a big boy! Take your bath every day... go to bed early and sleep well! Make friends... it doesn't matter how many... Just make sure they're real friends... people you can trust... Even a few is enough! And study your ninjutsu... I was never very good at it, maybe you will be... Everyone has things they're good at and things they're not... Don't feel bad if you can't do it all. Make sure you listen to your teachers... at the academy. And remember, avoid the three vices of Shinobi... Don't borrow money if you can help it. Save what you earn from missions... No drinking alcohol until you're 20, and don't overdo it or you'll ruin your body. And as for women... well, I'm a woman so I don't know what to say, but there are only men and women in this world, and you'll want a girlfriend someday... Just try not to pick a weird one... Try to find someone like your mother... And the fourth warning... watch out for Jiraiya-sensei!" Kushina could see Minato chuckle at that out of the corner of her eye. "Naruto... you're going to experience a lot of pain and suffering... Remember who you are! Find a goal... a dream... and don't stop trying until it comes true! There's... there's so much more I want to say... to teach you about... I want to stay with you... I love you... I'm sorry Minato... I took all our time..."

"It's okay," he said as he knelt beside her. "Naruto, this is your dad. Listen... to your motor-mouth mother." Kushina wanted to bop her husband over the head for the comment, but her tears wouldn't stop coming as she heard him finish the technique and felt her remaining chakra being pulled from her and into her son. "Eight Trigrams Seal!"

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><p>Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, who had been watching the proceedings from just outside the barrier Minato had put up, dashed forward the instant the containing barrier went down. He went straight for the young Naruto, as making sure he was secure was the first priority. He didn't honestly believe that either Minato or Kushina were alive. He knew enough about sealing to recognize what was happening, but he sent his ninja to check on them nonetheless. Hopeless or not, it was still procedure.<p>

However, he underestimated the degree to which Kushina possessed the legendary Uzumaki vitality. Even after giving birth, having the Kyuubi forcibly ripped from her, restraining the same beast, and having her chakra sealed in her newborn son with the demon's and her husband's, but suffering no other injury...

"Sandaime-sama! She's still alive!"

"What?" he asked in utter shock.

"It's extremely faint, but her heart is beating!"

"Don't just sit there!" he yelled, disturbing Naruto and causing him to start crying, "get her to the hospital! On the double! I don't care who you have to run down to do so, but get her there immediately!"

"Yes sir!" came the hasty reply as the jonin picked up Kushina and shunshined away.

He looked to the others who were examining Minato, just in case there were two miracles today, only to receive the expected sorrowful shaking of the head from them.

The aged former, now current he reminded himself, Hokage sighed before turning to the infant Naruto in his arms. "Well, young man, let's get you to the hospital too," he said to the wailing baby. "We need to get you looked over and your mother will want to see you when she wakes up."

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><p>Kushina felt sore all over. Which was really odd to her. She was certain the afterlife wouldn't come with things like physical pain. After a few minutes she deduced that her eyes were closed, so she carefully opened them. It was a good thing too because the sudden light was nearly blinding to her.<p>

'Funny...' she thought, 'the afterlife looks alot like a Konoha hospital room...'

As more of her mind began functioning, she realized that there was a steady beeping sound in the room. Looking over towards the source, she found a heart monitor that was hooked up to her. Right beside it was an IV bag connected to her arm. Shifting in the hospital bed, she confirmed that there was a bedpan under her.

'If this is the Shinigami's idea of a joke...' she considered to herself, 'I'm kind of impressed.'

She studied the room for several minutes before she decided that if noone was going to welcome her to the afterlife, then she was going to go find someone. Hopefully whoever she found could tell her where Minato was hiding. However, just as she was about to get up, someone walked into the room.

'Huh, whoever is in charge really went all out. This spirit looks just like a nurse.'

"Oh!" the nurse said in surprise, "you're awake! Hold on, I need to inform Hokage-sama. He wanted to know the moment you came to."

Kushina just blinked as the nurse exited the room. 'Why would... oh! I guess Minato-kun wanted to greet me himself. That's nice of them to let him do so. Wonder why they call him Hokage here though... I thought such titles didn't mean anything in the afterlife.'

Kushina pressed a button on the side of the bed that angled it so she could sit up better. She was still really tired, which was rather puzzling to her. Could you really get tired in the afterlife?

Several minutes later the door opened again, several ANBU marching into the room ahead of perhaps the _last_ Hokage she was expecting.

"Hokage-jiji! Did you die too?" she blurted out.

The aged Hokage blinked at the statement and started to chuckle. "No, I have not died yet. And neither have you," he said. Her astonishment must have been clear because he continued. "I suppose it is understandable. Few individuals could have survived even half as much stress as you did on that day a week ago. Yes," he said in response to her shock, "you've been asleep for a week. I'm glad you're awake now because there's a certain someone who's been really cranky waiting for you to wake up."

Kushina was a little confused at this, but she saw one of the ANBU move over to an object in the room she hadn't noticed. It looked like one of those hospital cribs they used for newborn... babies...

She watched as the ANBU picked up a tiny blond infant and gently carried it over to her. She took the tiny form into her arms and looked on the adorable face of her son. His hair just like his father's, and so atypical of the Uzumaki, and those adorable whisker marks on his cheeks... She wasn't sure when she started crying, nor for how long, she just happily rocked her sleeping son as she held him in her arms. She was alive! Her _son_ was alive! Minato was... At this thought, she turned to Sarutobi. "Did Minato...?"

The look on his face was all she needed to understand that her husband didn't make it. Of course he didn't. The Dead Demon Seal demanded the life of the caster. No exceptions. But, by some miracle, she had. 'Don't worry Minato-kun,' she thought, 'I'll raise our son as best I can. And then when I see you again, I'll make up all of our time apart to you. Hopefully with lots of stories for you about our son, and, Kami-sama willing, his own children.'

"I apologize for interrupting your time with your son Kushina-san, but there are things we have to discuss," Sarutobi began, only to be cut off as Naruto woke up and began crying and flailing his tiny arms. "However, it seems that they will have to wait until after young Naruto has been fed. Please let the nurse know when you are finished and we can continue our discussion."

Feeding Naruto had been a very... interesting experience for her, though not an entirely unpleasant one. She was immensely thankful that the nurse helped her through it as she had nearly no clue what to do and was terrified that she'd do something wrong. But thanks to the calm and simple instructions, she'd managed to get Naruto fed, burped, and settled down.

She was gazing into her son's eyes, so much like Minato's, as he stared at her curiously. She found that she actually had nothing to say, so she just smiled at him content with her life despite everything.

"I do hope I'm not interrupting," came the amused voice of Sarutobi.

"Oh!" she started, realizing that she'd completely forgotten about Sarutobi, "I'm sorry!"

"No worries," he said dismissively. "When my first born was placed in my hands for the first time, you couldn't have gotten my attention with anything less than an immediate threat to Konoha, and I'm not entirely sure that would have done it either."

"So, what did you need to speak with me about?" she asked.

"It concerns Minato's last will and testament," he said solemnly. Kushina understood completely. Any shinobi worth their headband above the rank of genin regularly made certain their affairs were in order in case the worst happened. She and Minato had revised their wills every four months, even if it was to only log a fresh copy, and she knew several shinobi who did so as often as every month.

"As you can probably guess, he left you and Naruto everything save for some money and a few mementos to his surviving student, Hatake Kakashi, and his former teacher, Jiraiya." Kushina was not surprised in the least. Kakashi and Jiraiya were the only two people aside from her who were truly close to Minato and still alive after the last war.

"However, there is a final portion of his will that I need to oversee personally that concerns you. He left in my care this letter for you specifically," the Sandaime Hokage continued, pulling out a scroll from his robes, "and I must ask you to read it in its entirety before making a decision."

Kushina hesitantly took the scroll, somewhat curious as to what it might contain, and also a little apprehensive. Taking a deep breath, she broke the blood seal Minato had left to ensure none save her could open it, and began to read.

_Dearest Kushina-chan,_

_If you are reading this, then I'm afraid I'm dead. I'm truly sorry that I am leaving you alone and even sorrier that I won't get to see Naruto when he's born, much less watch him grow up. I can only hope that you will be around long enough to raise him properly and keep him from becoming too out of control. Kami-sama knows I could never really keep you in line (not that I minded, particularly on our honeymoon) and I have a feeling that our son will take after you a bit more than he will me. While I am leaving you our properties and the money I've saved over my life, I know that it won't last forever without new income if we want anything left to leave Naruto when he grows up. While I know you would have no problem with taking on new missions, I have a feeling that you don't want to leave Naruto alone in the village. So I have a proposition for you, something I know you've wanted since we first met. My only regret is presenting it to you in this fashion. I would like you to take over as the Godaime Hokage. Of all the shinobi in Konoha, you are the most qualified for the position right now. I looked at the list of candidates for Yondaime after I was appointed and your name was just below my own! The job pays well and will let you remain in the village close to Naruto. And if any of those tightwads on the council object to having a jinchuuriki as Hokage, then you have my permission to punt them over the horizon._

_With all my love,_

_Namikaze Minato_

_P.S. And remember, if you accept, our faces will be next to each other on the monument for all time. How awesome would that be?_

Kushina felt numb. She hadn't thought that Minato even _remembered_ her old dream of being the Hokage. And she certainly didn't want to get the position by losing the man she loved. She hadn't really been all that bitter over not getting the position. She'd been too in love with him to begrudge him his success. If she had to lose out to anyone, she would have wanted it to be him anyway. She was a little surprised over how close she was to getting the position anyway. The council would have had everyone believe that Orochimaru, who turned traitor soon after, was the second choice. She felt that the snake sannin would have a coronary if he were to learn that he had been no higher than third on the list of choices. Hmmm... maybe she should arrange for him to learn that little piece of information?

She really missed Minato right then. She wanted to smack him for being his usual cheeky self, and then kiss him until the sun came up for being so thoughtful.

She looked at Naruto in her arms who was clumsily grasping at the bottom of the scroll, utterly fascinated with it. "Your father is such an amazing baka, you know that Naruto-kun?" she cooed at her son, getting a happy burble from him that she took as agreement, even though she knew he had no idea what she was saying.

"Have you made your decision, Kushina-san?" the voice of the Sandaime Hokage cut into her thoughts.

Kushina turned to look at him. The calm, expectant look on his face told her that he knew exactly what the letter contained. Of course he did. Such a proposal needed to be witnessed in order to be legal and who better to serve as witness to something like this than the previous Hokage?

Kushina took a deep breath and looked back at her son. Minato had died for his country, his village, and their son. And he was asking her to carry on in protecting all three in his place. What other decision _could_ she make?

"I accept, Sandaime-sama," she said in an uncharacteristically formal tone.

"Excellent," Sarutobi smiled. "Though, if you don't mind, we'll leave off the formal inauguration until after your maternity leave.

Kushina smirked. "I'd appreciate that. Give the council some time to sweat while they wonder who it is."

Sarutobi gave her a conspiratorial wink as he stood to leave. "Indeed."

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><p>*Omake*<p>

Kushina watched as her son ripped open the present he'd gotten from Hinata-chan. She was so immensely glad that she's introduced the two to each other. Hinata had confided in her that she'd had a great deal of trouble picking out a gift for Naruto until one of her own clan elders had suggested something in particular, claiming it was perfect.

When Naruto pulled out the red plush fox, Kushina knew exactly what the Hyuuga elder was attempting to do. She decided that she'd discretely find out which elder it was, and find a time to properly wring their neck before...

"Wow! Thanks Hina-chan!" Naruto said excitedly, hugging the Hyuuga heiress who turned a shade of red to match the toy she'd given him in response.

Or maybe she'd just tell the elder that Naruto loved the gift and thank him for suggesting it. That should make the old fart turn all _sorts_ of interesting colors.

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><p>*Omake*<p>

"Hokage-sama!" came the frantic call. Over the past several years, Uzumaki Kushina had gotten quite good at recognizing the subtle tones of frantic ninja. This one was the 'Naruto pulled another prank' tone. "It's your son!"

Yep, right on the nose. "What did he do this time?" she said, trying not to smirk in anticipation. She tried very hard not to encourage Naruto's little escapades, considering that they did often cause a fair amount of disruption in the village, but they were just so funny!

In response, the ninja simply pointed out the window behind her.

Kushina turned around and had to hand it to her son. Painting the Hokage momument took _balls_. Doing it without anyone noticing until he was finishing up took some serious stealth skill.

The Shodaime's face looked like it had been caught in a blizzard of giant sakura petals, the Nidaime's was painted with a gaping mouth and panting tongue like he'd just finished one of Maito Gai's workouts, the Sandaime's face was sporting twin rivers of tears and a massive nosebleed, her late husband's face has a massive blush and wide eyes looking to his left where her own face was apparently making 'bedroom eyes' at the Yondaime.

Kushina stood there for a full minute.

"Hokage-sama?"

She couldn't take it anymore, and the shinobi who'd come to inform her was treated to the sight of the Godaime Hokage laughing her ass off. She wouldn't stop for almost an hour.

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><p><strong>Uzumaki Kushina: Godaime Hokage Challenge Rules:<strong>

**0. Kushina is made the Godaime Hokage.** (And Minato is still dead of course.)

**1. Kushina kept her family name when she married Minato, and remains Uzumaki Kushina and not Namikaze Kushina (nor does she remarry). Naruto thus also maintains the Uzumaki name, but he has the option to grant the Namikaze name to some of his children if he likes.** (The first part is rare, but it does happen. My own parents in real life are proof of this. As for the second part, Naruto is inheriting two clans and he can thus split that inheritance between his children, essentially having two clan heirs instead of one. He does _not_ require a harem to do this. Unless you really want to write it that way.)

**2. Kushina's chakra is still in the seal.** (Her survival does not negate either of the failsafes Minato put in Naruto's seal)

**3. Her hobby is trying to set her son up with girls his age.** (I'd prefer a Naruto/Hinata pairing, but so long as the two are at least friends in the academy you can pair Naruto up with whichever girl you like. Provided they are within five years of him agewise.)

**4. Uchiha Mikoto openly opposes her husband when he tries to organize a coup against her best friend.** (How this alters the Uchiha massacre I leave to you)

**5. Regardless of what happens, Naruto is friends with Sasuke.** (Sasuke learns _fast _that his 'obaasan', or 'aunt', has little tolerance for emo brooding.)

**6. Naruto knows Kakashi prior to being put on his genin team.** (How they know each other I'll leave to you.)

**7. Naruto knows his manners.** (He doesn't necessarily _use_ them all that often, but he can if he has to.)

**8. Naruto is still a prankster.** (If his mother could stop _laughing_ when he pulled them, he might not do it as often. Naruto painting the monument so his mom's face is making eyes at his dad's is highly suggested.)

**9. Naruto calls Kushina 'Hokaasan'.** (A mish-mash of 'Hokage', or 'Fire Shadow', and 'okaasan', which means 'mother')

**Any other changes I leave to your discretion.**

**Some Suggestions, but not mandatory:**

**Kushina had a genin team around the same time Minato did.**

**Her hair still rises in nine masses when she's angry.**

_**Major**_** friction between her and Danzo.**

**Nagato learns that she's a relative of his.**

**She makes Tsunade come back to run the hospital and a medic-nin training program.**

**Orochimaru is scared of her (not that he'd **_**admit**_** to it...).**

**Kushina often tries to hook shinobi other than her son up with members of the opposite gender, such as Iruka or Kakashi.**

**Kakashi babysits Naruto.**

**ANBU often babysit Naruto.**

Please, send me a link if you decide to take up this challenge. I would love to read it and I'll put a link up in my profile!

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><p>AN: While I do own a fair number of the Naruto manga, I find it much easier to reference online scans when I'm writing an event straight from the manga. This should explain any discrepancies in dialogue.<p>

The letter to Kushina was obviously written prior to Naruto's birth, and Minato assumed when he was writing it that, if he died, it would be before Naruto was born.


	2. Hyuga Hinata: How to Wash Your Brain

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto, Hinata, or any of their comrades. Hinata's split personalities on the other hand are all my idea. At least I haven't seen them done elsewhere at this point, but there's a _lot_ of fanfiction I haven't read, so there may be some resemblances.

The challenge for this one is in the middle due to there being a supplementary challenge to it.

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><p><strong>How to Wash Your Brain<strong>

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><p>Hinata honestly had no idea how she ended up where she was right now. Okay, she knew exactly where she was and what path she'd taken to get there, but that wasn't quite what was meant by the preceding statement.<p>

It had all started with some teasing among her new teammates. Well, one teammate anyway. Her teammate Kiba, youngest child of the current Inuzuka matriarch and practitioner of the dog-using clan's techniques, has noticed her staring off into space after one Uzumaki Naruto, village pariah and unknowing holder of Hinata's affections, passed by and realized she had a huge crush on the boy. And of course he'd called her on it.

Somewhere between the teasing and her blushing, stuttering attempts to change the subject, Kiba had come out and said that if she ever wanted to 'get the knucklehead's attention' then she'd have to make the first move. To her surprise, her other teammate, the stoic and ever-logical Shino, heir to the insect-using Aburame clan, had said that Kiba made a valid point.

To her ever mounting horror, the team's sensei, jonin kunoichi and genjutsu mistress Yuuhi Kurenai, had _agreed_ with them. Some discussions regarding ways to build up her confidence, plans to approach Naruto, and mild pressure from her team later had her standing where she was, wondering just what the heck she was doing.

The shop she was in front of was, in essence, a clothing store. Of course it wasn't any ordinary clothing store. No, it was the purveyor of the raciest and most provocative clothing to be found in all of Konoha. And that was before you got to the lingerie department. Merely entering the store was enough to give a girl or woman a reputation for sexual proliclivity. For most kunoichi, this was hardly a deterrent. For the pale-eyed heiress of the Hyuuga clan though...

If anyone from her clan knew that she was even standing this close to the store, she'd likely be punished for shaming the clan's honor. Which was why she'd come in a light disguise, of course. Only someone who knew her personally would know who she was and a minor genjutsu over her eyes meant that the usual passer-by wouldn't peg her as a Hyuuga. The fact that she'd come by late, so as to avoid any other shoppers, while supposedly being out in one of the training grounds with her team on weekend-long survival exercises further ensured that she wouldn't be spotted. The shop itself stayed open all night because ninja sometimes liked to do their shopping discretely, and at odd hours.

Kurenai had all but ordered Hinata to come out of the store with at least one outfit that she would be willing to wear in public. Hinata felt certain that she'd die from embarrassment before even trying anything on first. But if she didn't, then she might not ever have the courage to speak to Naruto and tell him how she felt...

Hinata heard the bell on the door ring and looked up to see who had exited the store, only to find herself staring at the store's interior from inside the doorway. She turned beet red when she realized that she was the one who had opened the door, but she continued into the store, desperately trying to steady her breathing.

"Can I help you?"

"Eep!" Hinata squeaked in surprise as the kunoichi shopkeeper managed to catch her from behind despite the fact that she was only a few feet inside the store.

"Skittish little thing, aren't you? Don't worry. There's no one here except me at the moment. No one to know you're shopping here and no one to distract me from giving you my full attention. It'll help break up the monotony at any rate."

"A-ah..." Hinata said, trying to get her heart rate to calm down. "I'm here for some c-clothes..."

"Of course you are. So, who is he?"

"Ano..." Hinata uttered in surprise.

"Don't play coy girl. The only people we let in here are either over 16 or wear a headband. And most kunoichi don't come in anyway until after they hit 16. The only reason any girl as young as you comes in here is because they're trying to catch the eye of a boy. So who is he? The Uchiha?"

"No!" Hinata blurted out despite her nervousness. "I... I d-don't really like... Sasuke-san..."

"Really now? I'm surprised. I thought the boy had managed to string along every kunoichi your age. Now I'm _really_ curious."

"Well... ano..." Hinata hedged, not certain how to answer.

"Oh, come on! How bad could it be? If he was really all that horrible, you wouldn't like him in the first place. You don't have to sing his praises or anything, just tell me his name."

"Naruto-kun," Hinata whispered.

"Kushina's boy?"

Hinata's head jerked up to see the shopkeeper's surprised expression. "What?"

"Ah... Forget you heard that. No, really. I could get in alot of trouble if anyone knew I let that slip. So could you if you repeat it to anyone else."

"You know who Naruto-kun's..." Hinata tried to ask, only to be cut off swiftly.

"Of course I do. Anyone who knew her at all can see he's her son. Now forget it. Seriously. This is under orders of the Hokage."

"But, why?"

"Can't say. Above my clearance level. Now, why don't we get you something that'll catch his eye?"

"Ano..." Hinata squirmed as the subject turned back to what she was going to pick out to wear. Learning about Naruto's family was clearly not going to happen now, and that had been the only distraction from her impending embarrassment available.

"*Sigh* You're not going to attract the boy acting like that, no matter what you wear. I could deck you out in ramen-themed pasties and a v-string and you still wouldn't catch his eye without actually looking him in it."

"I-I'm s-sorry," Hinata choked out, on the verge of tears. "I w-want to go to him, b-be his f-friend and t-tell him h-how I f-feel, but I-I'm just too w-weak and w-worthless!"

Hinata lost all resolve and broke down in the shopkeeper's arms.

"Ah, crap. Someone really did a number on you, didn't they?"

Hinata sobbed into the older kunoichi's as the shopkeeper rubbed her back soothingly, trying to calm the weeping girl. She eventually calmed down and tried to apologize to the shopkeeper.

"Don't worry about it. Really. You're not the first person to break down in here and I doubt you'll be the last."

"I'm s-sorry," Hinata apologized yet again despite the shopkeeper's attempts to reassure her. "I... I just wish I could b-be more confident..."

"... I _might_ be able to help you out there. _If_ you promise to use what I teach you responsibly."

"A-ano...?"

"I know a kinjutsu that might help you overcome your shyness so you could meet this guy without anything holding you back. It's normally used to aid covert infiltration, but I think this is close enough to be appropriate. And once you have it down, getting you the right outfit and teaching you to some more confident body language should be easy."

"Ah... Aren't kinjutsu d-dangerous?" Hinata asked warily.

"You ever wonder why there are so many kinjutsu out there? If these things are so dangerous, why don't people just destroy them? The fact is, despite being dangerous, these techniques are too damn useful to simply get rid of. As a result, villages lock them away as best they can, only teaching them to those ninja that need them in order to perform their duties or those that show enough discipline to handle them."

"Like Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked despite herself.

"Hmm? Oh, the Kage-Bunshin he throws around all the time? Heh. I have no idea where the kid got his hands on that one. He doesn't show the discipline necessary for it, but he seems unusually well suited to it anyway. A little _too_ well suited if you ask me. The fact that the kid _can_ use it the way he does speaks volumes about how much freaking chakra he has, but that thing wasn't made a kinjutsu just because of the chakra cost. That he _does_ use it like he does says a whole other volume about his mental state. Some of it good, some of it not so much."

Hinata looked rather distressed at this news, but kept listening.

"Now, there are several types of kinjutsu, classified by how dangerous they are to use, in what way they are dangerous to use, and how easy they are to use. Now, the one I'm thinking of teaching you is on the low end of the danger scale, meaning that you should be fine so long as you don't do anything reckless with it. Most kinjutsu are known for their physical danger because of their nasty habit of crippling of killing the caster, but this one is strictly mental danger only, which can be worse in some ways. For example, if you screw it up, you could drive yourself insane. As for the last part, this is a 'common' kinjutsu. You don't need a bloodline, clan teachings, a particular chakra nature, perfect control, or vast reserves to use it. Since this is such a common technique, I don't really need any authorization beyond my own judgement to teach it to you. Heck, it's not even rank restricted. Just promise me you won't do anything _too_ stupid with it."

"Wh-what is it?"

"It's called Hitogara Katsu. Now pay _very_ close attention to what I tell you 'cause this needs more than just the handseals to work..."

* * *

><p>Naruto sat on one of the park benches by himself. Today had been extra rough on him. First Kakashi-sensei was later than usual, leaving him to deal with Sasuke's oh-so-superior brooding self and letting him get shot down by Sakura some more while she fawned over the unresponsive duck-butt. His head still hurt from where she'd knocked him into the ground. Then they had gotten a pretty crappy mission where the client had them redoing their garden, and at one point the client had 'accidentally' dropped all of the fertilizer on top of Naruto. He'd had to spend so much time getting the stink off of himself and his clothes that he'd missed team training! He'd managed to finish washing his clothes just in time for Kakashi to dismiss everyone. Then he'd come to the park to watch the kids having a good time and maybe cheer himself up only for their parents to suddenly 'remember' places they had to be right then. So here he was, alone again. Today royally sucked...<p>

"Why the long face?" a feminine voice cut into his thoughts.

"GAH!" he yelled in surprise and attempted to turn around where he sat, only managing to fall over. He did manage to get a good look at the girl who had snuck up on him.

She looked to be about his age, and she seemed a little familiar, but he couldn't seem to place her. She had long dark hair that ran to the middle of her back in silken waves that framed her cute face. She was almost as cute as Sakura-chan! Her eyes were hazel and filled with a friendly light that he'd only ever seen directed at him from Iruka-sensei, Ichiraku-san, Ayame-chan, or old man Hokage. She had on some fairly obvious makeup in a color not many people used, but not enough to look trashy. Not that orange could ever look trashy to Naruto anyway. She was wearing an orange tube top that matched her makeup, and his own jacket Naruto realized, with a short black jacket-vest over it, a short black micro-skirt with the orange straps of her underwear peaking out from under it on the sides, black fingerless gloves on her hands, and knee-high black boots. The kind made for stomping. To top off her appearance was the Konoha hitai-ate on her forehead like his was.

"Sorry, did I startle you?" she said apologetically.

"Not really," he lied. "A great ninja like me doesn't get startled that easily!"

"Oh?" she said with a teasing grin. "Then why are you upside down right now?"

Naruto blinked and grinned back. "Okay, you caught me," he admitted and started getting up.

The girl giggled at him. "So, Naruto-kun, why are you out here all alone?"

"Ah, my team finished training for the day and everyone went off and left me," he said before pausing. "Hey! How do you know my name?"

"Oh," The girl smirked and put a hand on her hip, "you just tended to yell it out for everyone to hear a few times a day back in the academy."

"Oh, right," he flushed, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"It was kinda cute actually," she admitted to him with a smile.

"R-really?" Naruto started in surprise. "Um... I'm sorry, but I don't seem to remember you at all though."

"No worries," she said. "You can call me Gekkani."

"That's a pretty name..." Naruto said, and watched Gekkani blush before he realized something. "Wait, I don't remember ever hearing that name in the academy at all... You aren't trying to give me a fake name are you?"

"Oooo!" Gekkani cooed at him, apparently impressed. "You're smarter than everyone gives you credit for, aren't you? No, Gekkani isn't my real name. However, I'm not going to tell you what it is either."

"Why not?" he pouted.

"Because a great ninja should be able to find things like that out," she said flatteringly, "shouldn't he? The price for my real name is that you have to figure it out yourself. The only clue I'll give you is that I was in class with you."

"Hah!" Naruto proclaimed. "That'll be easy! Only nine genin graduated after all!"

"Ah," Gekkani chided, "but I didn't say I graduated with you, did I? I could have graduated early, or I could have failed my jonin's test but been selected for an apprenticeship in the village. Not all those sent back to the academy are either put into teams later or dropped from the shinobi program completely after all."

"Oh," Naruto deflated as he realized this might be a bit harder than he thought.

"But I promise that, whatever happens, I'll always be your friend."

"Really?" Naruto asked hesitantly, just daring to believe.

"Promise of a lifetime," she said.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> Hitogara Katsu should translate as 'personality split'. I hope the grammar's correct.

**Challenge Rules:**

**1) Pairing must be NaruHina.** I'd greatly prefer no harem for this.

**2) Hinata is able to switch between 'Gekkani' and 'Hinata' at will and both are aware of each other at all times.** If you like, this can manifest itself through inner/outer conversations like Sakura has with herself. Ex: Outer Gekkani and Inner Hinata/Outer Hinata and Inner Gekkani

**3) 'Gekkani' does not tell Naruto who she is.** Naruto must figure it out himself or stumble upon her changing to or from Hinata.

**4) Hinata does **_**not**_** split up into multiple bodies.** Gekkani and Hinata are still the same person essentially and they're perfectly happy staying that way.

**5) Hinata is subconsciously aware of the Kyuubi inside Naruto.** She _cannot_ figure this out unless Naruto tells her. What she _does_ do is constantly associate Naruto with foxes for no reason she can discern. This has, of course, led to Hinata adoring foxes above any other animal.

**6) If you like, you can expand on this with Ninja Personality Disorder:**

Hinata's mental manipulations result in more personalities! And it seems she's starting to lose control of them! There's a _reason_ people list techniques as forbidden...

**No more than nine personalities total, with Hinata and Gekkani counting as the first two. **All personalities must be in love with Naruto in some way. Names for alternate personalities aside from Hinata and Gekkani should be chosen from the following list to keep the theme going:

Ageju - in the end

Amefuri - in the rain

Anchuu - in the dark

Binai - in the nose

Chuuto - in the middle

Denchuu - in the palace

Harukani - in the distance

Joukyouchuu - in the capital

Kachuu - in the fire/flames

Kaichuu - in the sea

Kouhou - in the rear

Rinkan - in the forest

Secchuu - in the snow

Shichuu - in the city

Shijou - in the street

Shouchuu - in the hand

Tekizen - in the presence of the enemy

Tenpenni - (high up) in the sky

Tori - in the heart

A few examples are below. Use or discard as you like.

* * *

><p><strong>Anchuu - <strong>

Hanabi's eyes widened with horror when she heard the words that spilled from her elder sister's lips. Even more disturbing to her was how Hinata's hair shifted from her usual style to a short tomboyish one and her indigo locks bled into a dark sinister pink and the lavender tint of her eyes darkened into something else entirely.

Hiashi stared in mute disbelief at his eldest daughter. Never in all of his years had he experienced something like this. The physical changes were merely some manner of Henge, but her sudden attitude on the other hand... "Would you care to repeat that, daughter?"

"You heard me, _father_." The hateful voice she spoke sounded utterly unnatural coming from her mouth. "Why are you so surprised? You have insulted me and beat me down since as long as I can remember. I have heard you say no less than five times in the past year alone that it does not matter if I live or die, uncaring that I was less than twenty feet from you each time."

"Oneechan..." Hanabi whispered. Her sister was starting to scare her.

Hiashi scowled, refusing to let the sudden change in his daughter phase him. "Hinata..." he began, but was cut off when his daughter suddenly flung several kunai at him with all her might, each one aimed to kill. He managed to dodge the assault, but was unable to hide his shock at the action. This... this was _not_ the daughter he knew.

Even more shocking were his daughter's now active Byakugan eyes. Instead of the pure white customary to their Doujutsu, her eyes were a pure dark gray, like storm clouds.

"DON'T YOU DARE USE THAT NAME!" his daughter practically roared at him.

"Hinata isn't in right now..." she growled menacingly, pulling out explosive tags and activating them in the same motion. "You can call me Anchuu."

0-0

Hiashi surveyed the smoldering ruins of the Hyuuga clan dojo. Hinata... Anchuu, he corrected himself, had spread the exploding tags all over the room, making the destruction total. The only untouched area was the corner that his youngest daughter was even now cowering in. He himself had only survived due to a Kaiten at the last moment, but even so he was still very injured from the blast and at his daughter's mercy, or the mercy of whatever entity had possessed her.

"What are you?" he coughed out, holding his side in pain.

"I?" she asked with a sneer. "I am the sins of this clan made manifest. I am every dark thought that the most innocent among you ever suppressed out of her misguided love for a family that sought only to cast her aside like trash. I am this clan's well-deserved and long overdue doom. I am the evil of your own making and you have none but yourselves to blame for the fury I shall bring down upon you."

She turned and walked towards the edge of the devastation she had wrought before turning to Hiashi and giving him a sadistic grin that made him ill just to look at. "Have a nice day, _daddy_," she said before leaping out of the compound.

Hiashi allowed himself to collapse. There would be no protecting his eldest daughter anymore. She had just proven herself to be both dangerous to the clan and mentally unstable. Even if she proved to be possessed, her actions would have the Hyuuga elders demanding her immediate branding with the Caged Bird Seal. His daughter would be lost to the clan's greatest sin and, even though he was the head of the clan, there was nothing he would be able to do to stop it. Were he to try and stop it, the clan elders, including his own father, would judge him to be unfit and move to replace him and seal both he and his youngest daughter to the Branch House in addition to Hinata. When the Branch House guards entered, he blamed the watering of his eyes upon the soot in the air, but he could not make himself believe the lie.

**AN:** Anchuu is the absolute darkest of Hinata's repressed desires given form. She is vicious and spiteful and has no love for anyone except Naruto (and her sister Hanabi, not that she'll admit this). Her form is lightly based upon Sakura's due to how the girl mistreats Naruto. She particularly hates the main branch of the Hyuuga clan, but she hates herself even more for existing in the first place. Given half a chance, she would love little more than to torture and destroy those who have hurt her and her beloved Naruto-kun. No matter the cost. The _only_ voice of reason she will listen to without a significant threat backing it up is Naruto's.

* * *

><p><strong>Tekizen - <strong>

The elder was startled when Hinata's hair began to shift and lengthen, changing colors to a bloody crimson and braiding itself at the same time. The girl herself had started moving, drawing kunai with a speed the elders were just a touch too slow to react to. As skilled as they had been in their prime, they had let those skills deteriorate since retiring and were unable to stop the former heiress from stabbing the elder, her own grandfather, in the stomach before he could begin the process of sealing her to the Branch House and immediately whipping around to hamstring him from behind making his legs useless to stand on.

"Restrain her!" another of the elders commanded, stirring the Branch House members present into reluctant action. Hinata had never made use of the Hyuuga's Caged Bird Seal, so when this red-haired version of the supposed meek girl placed her hands in the necessary seal immediately as a response, everyone paused in shock once more.

"Sleep," came the emotionless voice more suited to an ANBU operative than a rookie genin kunoichi such as Hinata. For those who had their Byakugan active, the chakra molded to activate the seals looked off, and thus inappropriate for the Caged Bird Seal's torture function. However, the variant proved just as effective when all of the Branch Members converging on her suddenly fell over unconscious, and also unharmed.

"How dare you defy your clan!" was the outraged shout of Hinata's grandfather from where he had been forced to the floor holding his gut.

The red-haired former Heiress turned to look at her downed grandfather, her clothes shifting in a sealess Henge to an ANBU outfit, complete with fox mask. "I answer only to the Gojitsu Hokage," came the deadpan reply from the changed girl. "Neither this council nor this clan has any authority over me."

With that, she made to exit the room, but stopped at an angry question from another member of the Hyuuga elders' council. "Who do you think you are you demon-loving _whore_?"

"Tekizen," she replied stoically before vanishing the next instant.

0-0

"Hokage-sama," came the sudden intrusion into Sarutobi's paperwork over the ANBU exclusive radio frequency he kept actively tuned to in case of a village emergency, "we have an... issue."

"Go ahead," the Sandaime said, all business as he set aside what he was looking at to give the speaker his full attention. The tone suggested that whatever was happening was not an immediate threat to the village itself, but the very fact that he was being contacted directly meant that the 'issue' was of a potentially highly sensitive nature that would likely require his personal attention.

"I just saw operative Fox," came the reply.

The Hokage's eyebrows raised as if they were trying to grab onto his receding hairline in an attempt to pull it back down. The 'Fox' identity was the only ANBU mask that was actually reserved. It had been reserved for whoever was the current jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi should they need to perform the duties of an ANBU since the Shodaime's wife had adopted the mask herself. And since Naruto was hardly ready for such a position, there should not _be_ an operative Fox at the moment.

"Elaborate please," the Hokage said.

"She," began the reply which only served to heighten the Hokage's interest, "appears to be Fox-sempai save for the fact that her body is roughly the size of Fox-sempai's when she was a fresh graduate and her bustline is noticeably larger than Fox-sempai's was at that age. Her hair is the same color but is braided which Fox-sempai never did when she wore the mask. The mask itself is also slightly off but is a highly accurate replica considering the object hasn't been seen in the village for well over a decade."

"Please detain her for me and bring her to my office," the Hokage said. "No force is to be used unless absolutely necessary, and only that which is sufficient to subdue her."

"Understood."

The Hokage nodded in response out of habit rather than any misconception that the ANBU could see the gesture. He needed to figure out what was going on here. He doubted this was a serious infiltration attempt since the disguise was poorly done, ill-advised, and horribly out of date to boot. If it was a serious infiltration attempt, then he suspected that some intelligence operative was going to be called upon to commit harakiri in the near future. It could be a young genin out for thrills. It would hardly be the first time a young ninja impersonated an ANBU with a homemade mask for kicks, but he wasn't going to wager on something innocuous either. Inadvertent impersonation of Kushina or otherwise, he needed to talk to this girl.

A minute had not gone by when the radio crackled again. "Ah... Hokage-sama?"

The Hokage's eyebrows were going to fly off the top of his head at this rate. What in the world could cause one of his ANBU to display such blatant confusion while on duty? "Is something the matter ANBU-san?"

"No, she is being perfectly cooperative," came the hesitant reply. "She says that she needs to report to the Gojitsu Hokage first before seeing you though..."

The Sandaime was glad he was sitting down because that was a bit of a shocker. A mystery kunoichi that reported to the 'Hokage in the future' before reporting to him? And apparently considered it truly non-treasonous as she admitted such freely and cooperated with his agents without hesitation. There were distinct differences in how people acted when they were doing something they knew was legal but thought to be wrong, something they believed to be right but knew to be illegal, and something they were convinced was both right and legal. This kind of cooperative behavior spoke of the latter, which meant he should probably find out what it was before passing judgement. No wonder the ANBU was confused. This kind of scenario wouldn't have been covered in his training, basic or otherwise.

"Escort her to her destination then," he said as he stood up. "I will meet you both there."

"You know who this 'Gojitsu Hokage' is then, Hokage-sama?"

"I have a pretty good idea, ANBU-san."

**AN:** Tekizen is an emotionless no-nonsense personality who fights ruthlessly and efficiently against anyone who proves themselves to be a threat to her, Naruto, or Konoha. To anyone else, she is polite and businesslike. She refers to Naruto as the 'Gojitsu Hokage' and acts like a loyal ANBU sworn to his service. Her seemingly emotionless personality is constructed off of the ANBU stereotype.

* * *

><p><strong>Kachuu - <strong>

Team seven had just arrived at their usual meeting place to find it already occupied. The girl was pale with black hair and dark eyes, looking enough like an Uchiha in that respect that Sasuke might have mistaken her for a relative if he had any left. Of course her choice of a black crop-top with not much more material than a bra over a mid-riff-baring fishnet undershirt, torn black leather pants, leather combat boots, and fingerless leather gloves wasn't something an Uchiha would have been caught dead wearing. Especially not with dark purple makeup.

Her action of staring into a flame on the end of a match wasn't that out of character though. Many an Uchiha had been mild pyromaniacs.

The girl looked up as the three approached, staring at her the whole way.

"You want something?" she said dully, letting the match drop to the ground and go out, as if she really didn't care one way or the other.

"Eh," Naruto shrugged, and then grinned, "it's not every day I meet an female goth version of Sasuke. Although you seem only half as emo as he is."

"Dobe..." Sasuke growled as the girl let out a small snort of laughter.

"Narutooo..." Sakura growled as well, preparing to hit the blond for making fun of her Sasuke-kun. She didn't get far before the goth girl put her hand on Sakura's arm to restrain her. None of them had realized she'd moved until that moment.

"Don't," she said calmly before turning to Naruto. "I haven't laughed in a long time. Thanks."

"Hey, no problem!" Naruto said cheerfully. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage! That's Sakura-chan there and the super-emo with the duck-butt hairdo is called Sasuke."

"Kachuu," the girl responded.

0-0

"Hey," Sakura asked as she ran up to Kachuu as she was leaving, not wanting either of her teammates to overhear, "you seemed really interested in Naruto... Why?"

"He's bright," Kachuu said evenly, "and warm. I like things that are bright and warm. Not that it's any of your business."

**AN:** Kachuu is a highly depressed version of Hinata, dressing in dark goth-style clothing and having the same hair and eye color as an Uchiha. Where Anchuu is her dark emotions turned outward, Kachuu is her dark emotions turned inward. In spite of being such a dark personality, she is quite stable and does not display any suicidal or self-harming tendencies. What she does do is avoid human contact and she'll cut off interactions with anyone other than Naruto at the earliest excuse. She doesn't smile much, and only seems to do so in response to one of Naruto's antics. She also doesn't say much, preferring to conclude conversations in as few words as possible. Kachuu tends to go off by herself frequently and pass the time staring into the flame of a match. The only thing she seems to find more interesting than fire is Naruto.

* * *

><p><strong>Tenpenni - <strong>

Out in the village, there were two girls, both genin. One of these girls had pink hair held back by her headband and green eyes, wearing a relatively functional red dress over black leggings. This was Sakura. The other had blond hair done up in a ponytail and possessed green eyes as well, wearing a purple top and skirt as well as bandage body-wraps underneath. This was Ino. The two had once been best friends, but had since become rivals in 'love' over the affections of one Uchiha Sasuke.

Ino and Sakura had been partaking in one of their favorite pastimes. Stalking, er... _admiring _Sasuke-kun. They had begun their watches individually, but had accidentally run into each other when they chose the same vantage point to watch from. A quick argument had resulted in a temporary truce when they realized that their subject was getting away. So they had joined forces to keep a mutual eye on their mutual 'love'.

Of course, the gods seemed to have other plans when the two, literally this time, ran into yet another girl out doing the same thing they were and all three fell into a heap.

"Owww..." the new girl complained from where she had landed on her rear. Sakura blinked and looked her over. The girl had sky-blue hair that was bound in twintails on either side of her head and had green eyes like she and Ino did. The girl was also wearing a fairly loose white shirt with a flared pink mini-skirt. Her faced seemed familiar, but Sakura couldn't place her at the moment.

"Dang it!" Ino wailed. "We lost him!"

"Him?" the new girl said questioningly. "Are you out boy-watching too?"

Now Ino and Sakura may have lost the object of their affections, but it is a nearly universal truth that people love to talk about their hobbies. Especially with others who share those hobbies.

"Yep," Ino said, "but we must have gotten a little too into it to miss you."

The mystery girl laughed sheepishly. "I know what you mean. I get so caught up in watching the guy I like that I've been known to miss seeing walls before."

All three girls had a good laugh at that.

"Yamanaka Ino," Ino introduced herself.

"Haruno Sakura," Sakura joined.

"Gishou Tenpenni," the new girl replied.

"Well Tenpenni," Sakura started, "we've been tailing the absolute hottest guy in the village ourselves. He's got this dark edgy look that just makes you want to swoon combined with the deepest puppy eyes ever..." she trailed off with hearts in her eyes.

"Oh, I know!" Tenpenni squealed. "That whole 'rebel' vibe combined with the 'dangerous alpha male' aura..." she cut herself off to mock-swoon.

"You're out watching Sasuke-kun too?" Ino asked, only half surprised. She'd thought she knew all of Sasuke's fan-girls.

"Sasuke?" Tenpenni made a face, causing Sakura and Ino to blink in confusion. "Ew! He never smiles. I don't think I could like a guy who doesn't smile."

"Er," Ino tried as both she and Sakura attempted to ignore the slight against their beloved, "what kind of guy do you like then?"

"Oh, he's a bit of a goof, but he's really strong and dedicated..." Tenpenni trailed off with a rather familiar fantasy look in her eyes before shaking herself out of it. "All the adults say to stay away from him because he's a 'bad influence', but that just makes me want to go to him even more so I can see just what kind of 'bad influence' he is."

Ino and Sakura had to admit that the passion and desire in this girl's voice was making them want to see this guy for themselves. He obviously couldn't be better than Sasuke-kun, but any boy who could challenge the dark prince of Konoha for the title of 'hottest guy' to _this_ extent was still worth a look.

"He's got stamina like you wouldn't _believe_, and you just know that if you had his love, he'd stand against the gates of hell themselves for you..." Tenpenni cut herself off and looked around the corner.

"Eee! There he is!"

Ino and Sakura quickly joined her to scan the street.

"Where is he?" Sakura asked.

"Right there, the foxy guy in orange," Tenpenni said, pointing.

_'NARUTO?'_ went the incredulous thought simultaneously through both Ino's and Sakura's minds. The only girl they knew who liked Naruto was Hyuuga Hinata and she would have _never_ been able to string two words together about the boy without blushing or stuttering, much less with the confidence and passion that Tenpenni had.

This bore further investigation.

**AN:** Tenpenni is, essentially, a Naruto fangirl. Her personality is drawn heavily from those of Ino and Sakura and how they act regarding Sasuke, except that her target is Naruto. She loves to sing his praises to anyone who will listen and spends her free time stalking, er... admiring him from the shadows. The only reason she doesn't constantly ask Naruto out on dates is because of Hinata's deep desire to have Naruto go out with the real her instead. On a side note, Gishou can mean 'playful laughter'. It can also mean 'assuming a false name'. God I love double meanings.

* * *

><p><strong>Rinkan - <strong>

Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino were among the most talented shinobi of their generation. Shino was the current heir to the Aburame clan and Kiba, while not heir, was pretty strong himself even before his canine partner Akamaru was taken into account. Add to that the fact that they were the students of Konoha's premier genjutsu mistress, Yuuhi Kurenai, and they were pretty hot stuff.

They were also fresh genin on their first C-rank mission which had just gone south in a very bad way. Talented or not, they were sorely lacking in the kind of experience that would have come in _very_ handy right about now.

They had been called in to track down something that was stealing livestock from a farm. Something that was a bit bigger than the average wolf and seemed intelligent enough to circumvent the standard animal traps laid for it. Kurenai had allowed the three to handle the job on their own, feeling that they could handle something this simple without supervision.

Except it _wasn't_ simple. Akamaru had been tracking the odd and unfamiliar scent, most noticeable by the simple virtue that the dog had no clue as to what it might belong to, when the group had heard something.

Their third teammate, one Hyuuga Hinata, heiress to the Hyuuga clan and holder of the all-seeing Byakugan, had just enough time to activate her doujutsu and gasp a warning before she had been knocked unconscious.

What had done so looked straight out of a horror film. It might have once been human, but that would have been a long time ago. None of the genin were strangers to the idea of genetic experimentation, something numerous organizations in their world tried to dabble in from time to time, but they had never personally encountered such a thing. Though from the looks of it, this individual was a failed experiment that had managed to escape. And it wasn't friendly either.

Their sensei probably could have dropped the thing in a few seconds, but without her both Kiba and Shino were having a hard time. Right up until another figure slammed into its back.

The person was a girl about their age with wild forest-green hair, deeply tanned skin, and wore what looked like animal hides. She also looked like she was using something similar to the Inuzuka clan's 'beast-man' technique due to her highly feral appearance. She had caught the thing off guard and managed to dig her claws into its neck whereupon she proceeded to rip its throat out, killing it.

"I thank you for your assistance," Shino stated blandly, trying to ignore the grisly sight before him.

"Yeah, thanks," Kiba said, a little more visibly wierded out.

"Whatever," the girl spat, "you're welcome I suppose."

"What's your..." Kiba started before getting a whiff of the girl's scent, causing his eyes to widen in shock. "HINATA?"

The girl suddenly rounded on him, her pale silver eyes blazing, as Shino looked to where Hinata had fallen, confirming that she was indeed absent.

"Don't call me that!" the girl growled angrily. "The shy little _princess_ couldn't handle real combat, so of course Rinkan has to come out and do all the work! DON'T TOUCH ME!"

Shino paused obediently from where he'd been about to touch Hinata's... Rinkan's head to see if she had been injured in her fall. "I apologize. No offense was intended. I merely wished to determine if you had sustained injury."

"I'm fine," she insisted, "so keep your hands to yourself."

"Hey!" Kiba suddenly growled himself. "Just what do you think you're getting at?"

"Back off dog-boy!" Rinkan growled back. "I don't like you, and I don't trust you. You're just more friends of the weakling, not me."

"It doesn't matter who you say you are," Kiba insisted. "Hinata or Rinkan, you're still _pack_."

Rinkan blinked. "Pack?"

"Yes, pack," Kiba reinforced. "We help each other. If a pack member is in danger, if they're hurt, sad, lost, lonely, or _whatever_, we help them out. Always. No questions asked. I don't care if you're shy little Hinata or big ferocious Rinkan. You're still pack and it's our job to make sure you're alright. So sit down, shut up, and let us check for injuries."

Rinkan obediently sat down and let Shino check her over.

"Why...?" she asked confused. This was _not_ how she had expected the shy little princess's teammates to react to her.

"Like I said, you're pack," Kiba stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Do you have any _idea_ what my mom would do to me if I left my pack-sister to fend for herself."

Rinkan snorted her laughter. "Just don't let your eyes or hands wander anywhere they aren't supposed to."

"Sure thing, bitch," Kiba teased. "Naruto doesn't have to worry about me doing anything inappropriate with his mate."

"Just so we have that clear," Rinkan said, not even blushing at the insinuation. "And by the way? I'm a _vixen_. Idiot."

Oh, boy. Kurenai-sensei was going to _love_ this one.

**AN:** Rinkan is a highly aggressive and partly-feral personality who is quick to think the worst of people. Constantly viewing others as potential threats, she tends to lash out at anything she might perceive as an attack regardless of its true nature. Her combat skills are top-notch since she lacks any of the hesitation Hinata possesses. Her social views are rather primal and basic, seeing little need for subterfuge among allies and thinking of Naruto as her 'mate'. She frequently squabbles with Kiba, which is rather ironic since her personality was built to resemble his.

* * *

><p><strong>Secchuu - <strong>

Shikamaru was in a bit of a fix. He seemed to be losing. To a girl.

Oh, he wasn't losing a sparring match. While that would be troublesome, he could probably live with it.

No, he was losing at shogi.

Well, okay, he wasn't _actually_ losing, but he was well aware that one wrong move would change that rather drastically.

The match was surprisingly even. More even than his usual matches with his sensei, Sarutobi Asuma, were. So even in fact that both of his teammates, Ino and Choji, had abandoned their usual diversions to watch him play. Choji watching wasn't unusual, the Akimichi heir could watch and eat at the same time after all, but Ino watching was highly unusual. Which gave testament to how heated the game was.

The girl he was losing to sat across from him. While he knew she was a kunoichi, the only thing that gave it away was the Konoha hitai-ate on her forehead. The rest of her screamed 'civilian noble'. She had golden blond hair done up in a traditional bun, pale blue eyes, and was wearing a formal silk kimono with designs so intricate and vivid that _only_ a noble family, ninja or civilian, could have afforded it. The bamboo umbrella she carried with her matched the kimono perfectly. The design of the kimono was a very intricate scene paying homage to the kami Inari, and the umbrella's design also shared the theme. The rice field design and unobtrusive fertility koan were no issue. The vivid, detailed, and prominent foxes, one on the kimono and another on the umbrella, however, were drawing some ugly looks from a few passerby. None of them, however, were brave enough to start anything with a girl who was clearly above their social class.

She had sat down to watch a game between him and Asuma-sensei, introducing herself as Secchuu, and then politely asked if she could impose upon Shikamaru for a game after he'd won. Shikamaru hadn't had anything better to do and he had actually been looking forward to the change of pace a new opponent would provide. As troublesome as this was turning out, he didn't really regret the decision.

Shikamaru finally made his decision and moved his piece. "Mate in five," he said confidently.

Secchuu moved her own piece and gave him a slight smirk. "Check. Perhaps you should evaluate all possibilities before declaring victory next time, Shikamaru-san."

Shikamaru winced and berated himself silently. That move was going to set him back several turns on his plan. He'd hoped that the minor psychological jab would have distracted her more. Oh, well. A good strategist could adapt. He remained confident that he would win in the end, but this girl was really making him work for the victory.

"Mendokuse..." he sighed as he moved to protect his king.

**AN:** Secchuu is very calm and proper. She could be the epitome of the japanese noblewoman except that she is far from stuck-up or submissive. While she is polite at all times, she also has a rather sharp wit and no problems with using it. She is the embodiment of Hinata's intelligence and high-class upbringing. Despite being dressed in a formal kimono, she is quite capable of defending herself. She is a bit religious as well and likes to say "may Inari's blessings go with you" to those she likes.

* * *

><p><strong>Amefuri - <strong>

The circumstances leading up to Naruto's current predicament were honestly too riduculous to be believed. And they were largely unimportant anyway. What _was_ important was that he had landed in the women's side of the Konoha Hot Springs.

The good news was that he'd managed to land during an extremely slow period of the day, so there was only one person making use of the hot springs. The bad news was that Naruto really didn't think that was going to save him. The girl, about his age, was already advancing on him. He'd be getting beaten up any time now...

"Are you OK?" the girl asked. Her voice sounded familiar to him.

...or not. The reality was so incongruous with what Naruto had been expecting that he failed to respond for a few moments.

"...You're not going to hit me?" he asked.

"Why would I do that?" the girl responded, sounded affronted by the very suggestion. "It's not like you landed in the springs on purpose, right?"

"Nope! Not at all!" Naruto quickly agreed, shaking his head vigorously.

The girl giggled at his antics. "You know, it's really rude not to look at someone when you're talking to them," she crooned in an enticing voice.

"Er..." Naruto's had to wrestle with his brain since it decided to lock up at that moment. "But... you're naked..."

"So?"

"Huh?" The question was so shocking that Naruto whipped his head around to face the speaker. And got quite an eyeful of her. "Gack!"

She was certainly his age, extremely pretty with hair and eyes as orange as his jacket. And it was apparently her natural hair color too. She was also _very_ well endowed for her age. Naruto hadn't seen a girl with a bust that big his age since Gekkani.

_'...wait a second'_ he thought. Same bust size as his friend and a familiar voice... "Gekkani?" he blurted out.

"Close!" the girl said silkily as she clasped her hands behind her back and leaned forward. "Gekkani's out at the moment, you can call me Amefuri you foxy stud you."

"Er..." Naruto's brain locked up again at the girl's actions and sexy attitude while a small trickle of blood escaped his nose. He managed to shake it off a moment later and very deliberately looked Amefuri in the eyes.

"...You're not the real personality either, are you?" he sighed and sat down on a rock.

"Nope, sorry," Amefuri said as she sat down behind him and proceeded to press her bare chest into his back by hugging him.

"Ah..." Naruto froze. This was so far outside his experiences and expectations that he had no clue what to do.

"You know, if it wasn't for the fact that the real me had called first dibs, I'd suggest we do 'it' right here and now."

Naruto's eyes bugged out. "But... but we haven't even gone on a date yet!"

"So?" Amefuri purred. "I'm sure that I'd be rather easy to talk into giving you a 'free sample' even before the first date once you figure out who I am."

"Oh, dear kami," Naruto said in horror. "You're a pervert."

"Oh, please," Amefuri shot back. "Guys don't have a monopoly on perversion, you know. And being a pervert's not all that bad as long as you respect the other person's feelings on the matter. And you're not exactly in a position to criticize either."

"Hey! I'm not a pervert!" Naruto denied.

"Oiroke. No. Jutsu." Amefuri whispered into his ear before giggling enticingly.

**AN:** Amefuri is the sum total of Hinata's budding sexual desires that she's had to repress. She has zero body modesty and is as comfortable in the nude as she is clothed. Perhaps even a little more so, especially around Naruto. She has utmost confidence in her sexuality despite being a virgin and never misses a chance to come on to Naruto. In all honesty, the only thing that's keeping her from jumping Naruto every time she sees him is that she can't deny Hinata her first time with him.


End file.
